Pure nostalgia with modern tech: Gothic 1 Remake reviewed

As a Gothic fan from day one, the original announcement of a remake gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, there was the obvious hope for a successful return with better graphics. On the other, there was the question of whether the new studio could adequately preserve the original atmosphere. To get straight to the point: In our view, it has definitely achieved that goal. This is already clear in the main menu, where you are greeted by the familiar, atmospheric original music. Even after just the first few minutes of play, it becomes clear that the team at Alkimia Interactive takes Piranha Bytes’ legacy seriously and has made a sincere effort, despite a few minor inconsistencies and bugs.

Almost everything recalls the original, whether it is the harsh tone of the characters, the demanding level of difficulty, or the gripping atmosphere. That said, the shift to a much more saturated color palette feels somewhat exaggerated to us and slightly undermines the original’s rather bleak look. Elsewhere, the changes and improvements are welcome. The inventory, for example, is now more pleasant to use, and there are more quality-of-life features without reducing the game’s ambition or making it feel too casual. Gothic is and remains a tough RPG that barely forgives mistakes and requires some time to get used to its world and mechanics, even if the remake now introduces players to them a little more smoothly.

Overall, the developers have achieved a good to very good combination of old and new, appealing to both series veterans and newcomers alike.

The game world once again stands out with its very organic, believable structure and environmental design, and it impresses with a strong mix of story, combat, stealth, exploration, discovery, and trading. The economy is designed so that every item bought or sold feels relevant, and you do not end up living in luxury after a short time, as is often the case in other RPGs.

The somewhat sluggish combat system may take some getting used to for some players, but it is challenging in a positive way and motivates you to improve your character. The fact that the controls generally feel a little clunky is also reminiscent of the original. The skill system offers a solid amount of depth, and almost every upgrade has a noticeable effect, which further boosts long-term motivation.

Visually, there is almost nothing to criticize apart from the fact that many collectibles are often hard to spot because of the sheer amount of vegetation. The environments and characters are not only extremely detailed, but also impress with mostly very sharp textures. Thanks to the exceptionally extensive and dense flora and fauna, the game achieves a first-rate atmosphere, further enhanced by weather changes and the day/night cycle.

However, the underlying Unreal Engine 5 once again has to contend with the usual asset-streaming hitches and stutters, even on powerful systems. Apart from that, the remake ran fairly smoothly on our test system with a Core i9-13900K, GeForce RTX 4080, and 48 GB of RAM at 3840 × 2160, DLSS Quality, and very high details.

Speaking of settings: The graphics menu contains plenty of options for adjusting the visuals to your own preferences and system. As expected, various upscaling technologies are included, whether TSR, XeSS, FSR, or DLSS. Frame generation is also available as an option. Further down in the menu, there are also toggles for post-processing, color correction, and render quality, the latter of which includes more than 10 individual settings that can be changed all at once via preset.

Changes are applied directly without a restart, which is naturally convenient. The only slightly annoying part is that non-native resolutions are, or have to be, displayed in windowed mode.

While looking at the original today is almost painful, the new version simply looks beautiful. In terms of gameplay and atmosphere, the remake remains largely true to Gothic’s roots, making this a successful project that should satisfy most longtime fans and carry the series into a new era. Managing that even without the original development studio is a genuine achievement and deserves respect.